MELLOVENGER: Tape simulation machine

Legendary Keys Expansion with Retrovenger skin for VPS Avenger

Long before an era of sampling machines and software there was a machine that sounded magical just by the touch of a finger. This keyboard called Mellotron played a tape under each key and so sent a special sound into space and time. Not perfect, not stable, but very characteristic.

We were able to catch this spirit and let it sound into todays modern synthesizer Avenger.

The Mellotron is an early polyphonic sampling keyboard that was developed soon after the (earlier) Chamberlin which was developed in the US as a home entertainment keyboard. Most Mellotrons consists of just 35 notes. When you press a key, a strip of magnetic tape is passed over a playback head playing the sound rather like a tape recorder but the strip only lasts about 8 seconds. When the key is released, the tape rewinds, ready to be played again.

Each tape has an authentic recording of the note played by the actual instrument(s). Due to the imperfect pitch of acoustic instruments, the defects in an analogue playback system (wow and flutter), slight variations in recording, and the low fidelity of the system, the result is a unique sound. The characteristic of tone is haunting and has emotion that is absent from cleaner digital sounds which has led to its lasting appeal.

Only three sounds were available on the later (and popular) model M400 (A, B and C). Earlier models had a split keyboard with solo sounds on the right hand and accompaniment sounds for the left hand. The unwieldiness of the actual instrument (weight and fragility) has led to it being an unreliable stage instrument, such that several bands (Genesis and King Crimson) for example, ended up taking several on the road once they could afford to do that. As well as many musicians, Princess Margaret and Peter Sellers were early adopters, probably for the home entertainment value.

Some famous early uses include:

• The flute sound at the start of “Strawberry fields forever” (the Beatles)
• The mournful strings sound on “Night in White Satin” (the Moody Blues)
• The string sound at the start of “In the court of the crimson king” (King Crimson)
• The string sound on “Joan of Arc” (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)
• The string sound on “Space Oddity” (David Bowie)
• The cello sound on “Wonderwall” (Oasis)
• The Strings in Watcher of the skies” by Genesis

Encounters media recreates the legendary Mellotron sounds for VPS Avenger synth plus adds a simulation so you can now play any sample mellotronically !

That's right ! We successfully recreated the spirit of the tapes into Avenger, with noise, detuning and clicks,... You can now add your own samples and make them sound as if they were on Mellotron tapes. All that you need to get that old vibe into your recordings !



• Over 100 presets
• Including the famous original sounds
• Adding Avenger simulation of the Mellotron sound
• All sounds layered and mixable with the macro knob
• All presets with Machine Noise and Old Tape effect adjustable per preset via the macros
• Famous sounds used in many hits !
• New inspirational Mellotron like sounds for Avenger nowhere found on the original tapes!
• Originals (8 sec tape)
• Songs
• Bells, Piano, Percussion, Guitar, Organ
• Brass
• Flute
• Fx
• Strings
• Voice

Listen to our demo's

Demo's available at hearthis.at

Requirements

Minimum requirement: Vps avenger 1.5 and higher, compatible with v2.x

• Format: .avengercontent file
• Install the presets

(you will get an instructions txt file for download first)

1. first unzip the file.

2. drop the .avengercontent file onto the avenger browser library, it will start installing.

3. done, enjoy your presets.

How to install video here

Mellotron® trademarks by their respective owners. Encounters is not affiliated or endorsed by any entities listed here.Samples copyright shared under creative commons license. Product inspired by Mellotron.